Scientific beauty.

Many of my creative based friends often pose the question of my position when concerning the beauty of nature. One of whom asks “i can see beauty in a flower or a tree, but you as a person that subscribes to the tenets of maths and science will analyze this and its beauty will be lost in the scrutiny of scientific deduction”

Firstly the beauty which he sees in a flower is available to others, he may have a more refined appreciation for the aesthetic, but science enables methods of analysis which opens up different dimensions of beauty and different avenues for appreciation. I can appreciate the activity of the cells, the complex reactions of chemicals, the biomechanical processes occurring. I can also have a deeper understanding of the millions of years of evolution of the wonderful colours of the flower that make it attractive to pollinating insects to perpetuate and mutually benefit each other in the perpetuation of the respective species, and even have an appreciation of the quantum mechanics and particle-wave duality of the light itself.

Science (for me) can only add to the excitement, awe and beauty of nature. I could never understand how being scientifically literate can ever subtract from the beauty and mystery of reality.

As far as i can tell we are lost and alone in the universe. Drifting aimlessly through space on a blue ball. We all seek purpose, this may be how religion arose. As a social species we all seek some sort of companionship, either in love or friendship, constantly in search of connection. Being scientifically literate enables me to appreciate the fundemental connectivity.

Exploring at the most common elements found in the universe, hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen are also the most common elements found in living organisms. I find deep comfort in the knowledge that the calcium in our bones, the iron in our blood and the oxygen we breath were all elements that were synthesized in the hearts of high mass stars which burnt brightly and gave their lives promptly to spread these elements throughout the cosmos and thus enabling life to arise.

Once one comes to the realisation that you are not only in the universe, but part of the universe and more profoundly the universe has [in a sense] manifested itself within you. I turned away from religion because i realised the truth of our origins are far more spectacular and remarkable than what any religion has to offer.

Science is able to provide that sense of connection, that people turn to religion for. We’re connected in the most fundemental of ways from the wave function entanglement of particles to the biological processes, from the chemical reactions common to us all to the origins of atoms from which we are all built.

So, in my conclusion to this rather pointless piece, written out of boredom, i have only this to offer.

If you ever feel unimportant and insignificant remember; you are the end result of a 14 billion year process, from the formation of elementary particles, the synthesis of heavy elements, the interaction of complex molecule and the evolution of the human species, all guided by an invisible, intangible landscape shaped by the laws of nature. You are constructed from the exploded debris of long dead stars, controlled by a brain with more possible connections than there are atoms in the universe.